Thomas Lamar
Member
Hello!
My name is Thomas Lamar, but you can call me Tom. I am quite new to the tortoise keeping hobby.
In mid-May, I purchased a hatchling baby Leopard Tortoise from a reptile expo in my city. He was the cutest little thing, but I immediately realized something wasn't right. He rarely opened his eyes, his eyes appeared puffy, and his appetite was very much lower than to be expected. I got him to the vet a couple days later, and received that sad news that he had an URI, and would need to be on injectible antibiotics for a couple weeks. He was only about 2 inches long, and his plastron and shell were spongy. The vet told me that he may make it, he may not, and all I can do is try. I was also informed he was actually too small to be sold legally in my state, as he was under 4 inches in length. Go figure.
Initially, Wilson (which I had named him) had an amazing response to the medication. His eye puffiness subsided, he had his eyes open all the time, and he started eating. His favorites were grass from my lawn, clover, dandelion leaves, yellow squash, sweet potato. I was thrilled.
Sadly, about 1.5 weeks after I finished the antibiotics, I noticed Wilson was declining again. I still had eye ointment from the last visit, so I began using that, and called the vet for another appointment. I got another 10 day course of antibiotics, but by now Wilson had no eaten in days, I had been force feeding baby food with a syringe daily, and his shell and plastron were the most fragile they had ever been. I had the vet give the first injection to get him started again as soon as possible, and was to give the next injection 3 days later. Unfortunately, on the morning of that next injection, I found my poor little Wilson deceased in his enclosure. I was pretty upset. Having had to nurse him basically since I got him had created a bond, and not having that routine these past few days has really felt odd. I purchased Wilson with the intention to have a lifelong companion, not just for one month.
So, I am thinking I want to give another leopard tortoise a go. I shamelessly admit that I joined after much reading trying to look for tips on healing Wilson, and today I discovered an "adoption" section of this site, so I joined. After hundreds of dollars in vet bills, I am not really in a spot to purchase another tortoise, especially one that is older, more established, and pricier than a hatchling. However if somebody has a slightly older (1-4 years or something), already established young leopard tortoise that is less fragile that they are looking to rehome, I would be all for it. In the meantime, I can browse the forums, talk to those much more experienced than I, and gain the knowledge to give the next tortoise I acquire the life it deserves. I wish it would have been Wilson, but hind sight is 20/20.
-Tom
My name is Thomas Lamar, but you can call me Tom. I am quite new to the tortoise keeping hobby.
In mid-May, I purchased a hatchling baby Leopard Tortoise from a reptile expo in my city. He was the cutest little thing, but I immediately realized something wasn't right. He rarely opened his eyes, his eyes appeared puffy, and his appetite was very much lower than to be expected. I got him to the vet a couple days later, and received that sad news that he had an URI, and would need to be on injectible antibiotics for a couple weeks. He was only about 2 inches long, and his plastron and shell were spongy. The vet told me that he may make it, he may not, and all I can do is try. I was also informed he was actually too small to be sold legally in my state, as he was under 4 inches in length. Go figure.
Initially, Wilson (which I had named him) had an amazing response to the medication. His eye puffiness subsided, he had his eyes open all the time, and he started eating. His favorites were grass from my lawn, clover, dandelion leaves, yellow squash, sweet potato. I was thrilled.
Sadly, about 1.5 weeks after I finished the antibiotics, I noticed Wilson was declining again. I still had eye ointment from the last visit, so I began using that, and called the vet for another appointment. I got another 10 day course of antibiotics, but by now Wilson had no eaten in days, I had been force feeding baby food with a syringe daily, and his shell and plastron were the most fragile they had ever been. I had the vet give the first injection to get him started again as soon as possible, and was to give the next injection 3 days later. Unfortunately, on the morning of that next injection, I found my poor little Wilson deceased in his enclosure. I was pretty upset. Having had to nurse him basically since I got him had created a bond, and not having that routine these past few days has really felt odd. I purchased Wilson with the intention to have a lifelong companion, not just for one month.
So, I am thinking I want to give another leopard tortoise a go. I shamelessly admit that I joined after much reading trying to look for tips on healing Wilson, and today I discovered an "adoption" section of this site, so I joined. After hundreds of dollars in vet bills, I am not really in a spot to purchase another tortoise, especially one that is older, more established, and pricier than a hatchling. However if somebody has a slightly older (1-4 years or something), already established young leopard tortoise that is less fragile that they are looking to rehome, I would be all for it. In the meantime, I can browse the forums, talk to those much more experienced than I, and gain the knowledge to give the next tortoise I acquire the life it deserves. I wish it would have been Wilson, but hind sight is 20/20.
-Tom
